23 April - Cadbury… are you sure more chocolate makes you happy?

I came across the promo poster on the right at Coles supermarket today. If you followed what it says, you would be Happy with a small 55g bar or chocolate (1200 kJ), Happier with a 150 g block (3285 kJ) and Happiest with a 250g Family Block (5475 kJ).

Be careful, food advertisements sometimes simply present excuses they know people use to tell themselves it's OK to overeat. If you buy the excuse, you'll end up buying the product. Try not buying the excuse and you naturally won't buy the product.

20 April - If you needed more evidence for government action on junk food ads

In each months collection of Matt's Snacks I've been updating you on the latest on the debate to ban junk food ads during children's television viewing. Now, a Sydney University study has shown advertisements for confectionary, fast food and high-fat salty snacks made up 66 percent of all food ads during chiildren's and teenagers peak viewing hours when compared to 39% during adult viewing hours.

String words came in response from the Australian Medical Association President, Dr Mukesh Hailerwal - “This startling study demonstrates that junk food manufactures focus their advertising on vulnerable children and young people.”

And, “In a nation with an escalating childhood obesity problem it is unacceptable to allow these ads to air during children's prime-time TV.”

Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 20 April 2007

For a summary of the debate, check back through my Matt's Snacks.

12 April - Lasting satisfaction from a yoghurt?

I bought a 4-pack of “Danone Shape Fat free yogurt with fruit and sweeteners” at Sainsbury's supermarket in Loughborough (UK) today because it said on the pack, “Lasting Satisfaction … with EFP ™”.

EFP must be a new secret ingredient discovered by Danone and an ingredient that makes you feel fuller for longer. I was really excited turning the pack over to discover… EFP stands for “Effective Fibres and Proteins” which are simply the natural ingredients in yoghurt.

Shape seems to have more protein and fibre than regular yoghurt, so Danone have added some more of these two potentially filling ingredients into their product. Each 120g tub (less then the usual 200g tub) contains only 319 kilojoules which is really low for a snack option (download my new Nutrition Placemat with the energy content of snacks in my
Free Stuff) so this is a good slimming product.

Watch out for more products like this that are designed and marketed to help people better manage their appetite. If you want to learn the science behind appetite management with dozens of practical eating strategies to help you feel fuller for longer, check out my Meal Timing - Science to Success At-Home Workshop with 5 CEC's from Fitness Australia.

12 April - A supermarket that really helps you eat well

Back at Sainsbury's again… the supermarkets in the UK seem to be more proactive than our Aussie ones in terms of nutrition education and really helping their customers eat well. Come on Coles and Woolworths!

Check out the poster outside Sainsbury's on the right. It's promoting their new Wheel of Health which shows at a glance the nutritional status of a food product using the figures for fat, carbohydrate, etc in colour-coded wedges of a circle. The colours are green. Amber and red and represent a traffic light labeling system.

This is a good idea and much better than the voluntary front-of-pack nutrition labeling we are now seeing from food manufacturers in Australia. I think it's only a matter or time before a traffic light system of food labeling becomes mandatory in Australia and elsewhere.

It's hard to argue with a design like this that is so simple, useful and delivers what consumers want and need. As a nutrition educator, I'm excited at how much help traffic light food labeling would b for me. I'll keep you posted on updates on this important issue.

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